Refrigerating apparatus



2 sheets-Sheet 1 A J. R. KlLLEN Filed Oct. 15, 1951 REFRIGERATINGAPPARATUS '.ll I

Dec; 3,1935. J. R. KILLEN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 2 sheets-sheet 2 FiledGG+;. v 15, 1931 Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEREFRIGERATING APPARATUS Application October 13, 1931, Serial No. 568,636

12 claims. (ci. 6ft- 4) This invention relates to refrigeratingapparatus. More particularly it relates to an apparatus for coolingliquids, such as drinking water, carbonated water, etc., and has amongAits principal objects the increase of the cooling capacity of theapparatus and also the prevention of damage to the apparatus if theliquid being cooled should be accidentally frozen.

Heretofore it has been customary to cool water for drinking purposes orthe like by thermally contacting the conduit or container for the waterwith a volatile refrigerant in order to extract the heat from the water.The volatile refrigerant is generally removed, re-liqueed and returnedby means of an intermittently operating liquefying unit. In this type ofsystem a suffcient quantity of refrigerant is generally used to providea certain amount of refrigeration holdover capacity, and it has beencustomary to provide an automatic control for the liquefying unit whichstarts the unit after the hold-over capacity has been exhausted by theflow and heat brought in by the liquid which is being cooled. This lapseof time between the time when water is iirst withdrawn and the time whenthe liquefying unit starts operating reduces the capacity of theapparatus because the liquefying unit is idle just at the time whenliquid is first being Withdrawn and when it should be supplying maximumcapacity. This invention increases the capacity of the apparatus byproviding means for starting the liquefying unit at substantially thesame time when water is first Withdrawn from the apparatus.

Heretofore also, if a water cooling apparatus of the mechanicallyoperated type accidentally froze the water coil or container and thewater coil burst, generally therewould follow a mixture of the water andthe refrigerant, which would be circulated through the refrigeratingmachinery with a consequent damage to it. This invention removes thisdanger by insuring that water cannot enter the refrigeration machineryunder such circumstances.

Further objects and advantages of the present `invention will beapparent from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein a. preferred form of the 50 presentinvention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically one embodiment of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-section of a portion of the apparatus shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;and i Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section of a valve which may be usedin this apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the in- 5 vention as it may beapplied to the type 'of soda fountain now ordinarily in use and which isshown in dotted lines and indicated by the numeral I0. This type of sodafountain is generally provided with an ice cream compartment II and awater 10 cooling compartment I2. Under normal conditions refrigerationis provided for both of these compartments from a single refrigerantliquefying unit, designated I3, which liquefies refrigerant, supplyingit through line I4 tothe evap- 15 orators in the compartments I I and I2and withdrawing the evaporated refrigerant through the line I5 forre-liqueiication. Thus the invention is shown as applied whererefrigeration is supplied, not only to the Water, but also to ice 20cream containers or the like; but it is to be understood that manyfeatures of this invention may be embodied in an apparatus in which onlyone or more liquids such as water are to be refrigerated. 25 Theembodiment of the invention as here shown may be used for cooling notonly uncharged water, such as comes from the city mains, but alsocarbonated Water. To this end water from the city mains may be suppliedto the apparatus by 30 the pipe I6 and carbonated watermay be suppliedby the pipe I'I. 'Ihe carbonated Water passing through the pipe Ilenters a chamber or evaporator I8 through thesection I9 and then passesthrough the conduit or container 20 in 35 thermal contact with therefrigerant in the evaporator I8 and is discharged through the pipe 2|and the faucet 22. Likewise the untreated oruncarbonated city waterwhich passes through the pipe I6 enters the evaporator i8 through the 40section 23 and passes through the conduit or container 24 in thermalcontact-with the refrigerant in the evaporator i8 and is dischargedthrough the pipe 25 which leads to the faucet 26.

The refrigerant in the evaporator I8 after it 45 is vaporized may bewithdrawn directly to the refrigerant liquefying unit, but, in order to`prevent damage to the refrigeration machinery in case of accidentalfreezing, it is preferred to provide, in thermal Contact with theevaporator I8, a second evaporator 2l which isy connected directly withthe refrigerant liquefying machinery or unit l The refrigerant 28 in theevaporator I3 which stands as a body of liquid to the level indicate;vis vaporized by the heat of either u or both the conduits and 24, isthen condensed on the surface of the second evaporator 2:1 and dripsback to the body of liquid. The liquid refrigerant in the secondevaporator 21 is in turn vaporized by the heat obtained by condensingthe refrigerant of the rst evaporator I8 and the vapors from theevaporator 21 are carried through the pipe I5 -to the unit I3.evaporator I8 acts as a heat absorbing means for the conduits 20 and 24.The evaporator 21 acts as a heat absorbing means for the evaporator I8,and the unit I3 acts as a heat absorbing means directly for theevaporator 21 and indirectly for the evaporator I8.

The absorption of heat from the evaporator I8, which contains theconduits 20 and 24, is

. made automatically responsive to the ow of water entering 'either ofthe conduits. is accomplished by providing a thermostatic bulb 30responsive to the flow of liquid entering the 'conduits 20 or 24 sinceit is in thermal contact with the sections or inlets I9 or 23 to saidconduits. The bulb 30 governs the valve 3|, which is preferably on theoutlet of the evaporator 21 and thus governs the operation of the ow ofrefrigerant through, or absorption of heat from, the evaporator 21directly, and of the evaporator` I8 indirectly. The valve 3| is soarranged that when the bulb 30 is warmed by the flow of water passingthrough the sections I9v or 23, the conduit I5 is open for thewithdrawal of refrigerant from the evaporator 21, and when thetemperature of the bulb 30 drops' below a predetermined value then thevalve 3| is closed and withdrawal or flow of refrigerant from theevaporator 21 is prevented.

In its more specific embodiment, the refrigerant liquefying unit I3 maybe of the compressor-condenser type and may comprise a compressor 32delivering refrigerant to a condenser 33 from whence liquid refrigerantis collected in the re- 'suitable control may be provided for startingand stopping the compressor 32 which is responsive to the refrigerationdemands of the evaporator 21 and the evaporator I8. Thus the bellows 48may operate a snap switch 4I which starts and stops the motor 42 whichdrives the compressor 32. The bellows 40 may be so calibrated thkat itstarts the compressor 32 when the pressure in the line I5 rises above apredetermined value and stops the compressor when the pressure in theline i5 drops below a predetermined value.

The operation of the liquid cooling portion of the apparatus sho n inFig. i is as follows: 1f liquid is withdraw' for example, from thefaucet 23, the ow of relatively warm liquid through Y the sectionentering the conduit 2d warms the bulb 38, which in turn opens the valve3l and places the evaporator it iin communication with the intake of thecompressor 32. The liquid refrigerant in evaporator i8, being warmed byThus the the flow of liquid through the conduit 24, vaporizes in partand condenses on the evaporator 21. The heat thus imparted to theevaporator 21 evaporates its refrigerant which in turn enters theconduit I5 whenr the valve 3| is opened ore- 5 ates a pressure sufcientto operate the switch 4| and start the motor 42. The compressor 32 thenwithdraws refrigerant from the evaporator 21 as long as the thermalconditions require it. The bulb 30 is in thermal contact not only with10 the sections I9 and 23 but also with the body of liquid refrigerantin the evaporator I8. When the withdrawal of water from the faucet 26has stopped, the temperature of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporatorI8 gradually drops. When the 15 temperature in the evaporator I8 fallsbelow a predetermined value the thermostat bulb 30 closes the valve 3|and the compressor 32 quickly pulls the pressure in line I5 down belowthe value necessary to stop the motor 42, when other re- 20 frigerationdemands are placed on the compressor 32, such as by the evaporator 43,which is also connected to lines I4 and I5, then the operation of thecompressor is dependent not only on the refrigeration demands of thewater cooling 25 means, but also of the ice cream cabinet. However, theoperation is such that the absorption of heat from the evaporator I8 isalways dependent on the thermal condition of the bulb 30.

In this particular imtallation the bellows 40 is 30 so calibrated thatit maintains the temperature 0f the evaporator 43 sumciently cold topreserve ice cream. The evaporator 43 may be of the type in which therefrigerant inlet is provided with a float controlled valve responsiveto the 35 level of the refrigerant in the evaporator and is Yof the typenow well-known in the refrigeration art. The automatic valve 35 is soadjusted that it feeds liquid refrigerant into the evaporator 21 at amuch higher pressure than is normally main- 0 tained in the evaporator43. When the valve 3| is opened by the bulb 30 the pressure in theevaporator 21 raises the pressure in the line I5 far above the startingpressure of the bellows 40.

Thus any refrigeration demand made on the evap- 5- orator I8 immediatelystarts the compressor 32 and if the compressor is not connected to someother evaporator, the control immediately stops the compressor whenthere is no further refrigeration demands. This always occurs where awa- 50 ter cooling apparatus of this character is the only load placedon the compressor, but where other refrigeration' loads are also placedon the compressor, as in thisA particular installation, the compressormay continue to operate for a sui- 55 cient length of timeafter thedemands in evaporator I8 have ceased to meet the refrigeration demandsof the evaporator 43. Preferably the apparatus is so designed that therefrigerant 28 is maintained at a temperature of'37 F. and the 60refrigerant in the evaporator 21 is maintained at 22 F. The conduits orcontainers 20 and 24 may be of a sufficient length as to assure a properwithdrawal of heat from thel liquid passing through them.' Merely as anexample, the con- 65 duit titi may be made 20 ft. long and may beinternal diameter while the conduit 24 may be 30 ft. long and may be0.3" internal diameter but these dimensions may be varied to meetvarying conditions.

Other features of the apparatus, shown in the drawings are as follows:The evaporator I8 is provided, preferably at its upper part, with couplings 5@ to which the sections i9, 23, the outlets of the conduits 28and it and. the inlets 75 and outlets of the evaporator 2'I 'areconnected respectively.` The proper connection to these couplings 50with the remainder of the system may be made outside of the evaporatorI8. The

evaporator I8 may include a cylindrical portion 5l to which are weldedconcave end portions 52 and 53 respectively. Suitable pedestals 54 maybe welded to the cylindrical portion 5I. A tube 55 1s inserted throughand welded to the top 53 and extends into the evaporator I8. Thethermostatic bulb 30 is inserted in the tube 55 and is in. thermalcontact with the sections I9 and 23 and the liquid 28 through the mediumof the tube 55. The valve 3| may be of any suitable construction, but,merely as an example, it includes a casing 56 having a valve seat 51which receives the closing member 58 which in turn includes the stern59. Pressure imparted from the bulb 30 through the tube 60 operates todepress the bellows 6I which in turn operates a plunger 62 operating onthe second bellows 63. A spring 64 closes the member 58 against thepressure in the tube 68. The evaporator 21 is connected at coupling 65and the line I5 is connected at the coupling 56.

The refrigerant 28 preferably a volatile liquid which does not form ahighly corrosive compound in the presence of water. Such a liquid may beone or more of the haluoro derivatives of methane, such as CClzFz. Therefrigerant used in the evaporator 2'! and unit I3 can be, though notnecessarily so, of the type which does form a' corrosive compound in thepresence of water, such as SO2. By such an arrangement no damage will becaused by the bursting of the conduits 20 or 28 insofar as corrosion isconcerned either to the refrigeration system or to the Water system.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

l. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a conduit for liquid to becooled, an evaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contactwith y said conduit, heat absorbing means for removing heat from saidevaporator, an automatic control responsive to change in conditionscreated by the flow of liquid to be cooled entering said conduit inadvance of the rise in temperature of said liquid refrigerant forgoverning the operation of said heat absorbing means.

2. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a conduit for liquid to becooled, an evaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contactwith said conduit, heat absorbing means for removing heat from saidevaporator, a thermostat responsive to the temperature of the liquid tobe'cocled entering said conduit in advance of the rise in tem--Vperature of said liquid refrigerant for governing the operation of saidheat absorbing means.

3. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a conduit for liquid to becooled, an evaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contactwith said conduit, heat absorbing means for removing heat from saidevaporator, an automatic control responsive to change in conditionscreated by the fiow of liquid to be cooled entering said conduit inadvance of the rise in temperature of said liquid refrigerant and alsoto the temperature of said liquid refrigerant for governing the opera-.tion of said heat absorbing means.

4. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a con- 'duit for liquid to becooled, an evaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contactAwith said conduit, heat absorbing means for removing heat from saidevaporator, a thermostat responsive to the temperature of the liquid tobe cooled 5 entering said conduit in advance of the rise in temperatureof said liquid refrigerant and also to the temperature of said liquidrefrigerant for governing the operation of said heat absorbing Y means.l0

5. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a conduit for liquid to becooled, an evaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contactwith said conduit, heat absorbing means for removing i heat from saidevaporator, said heat absorbing means including a second refrigerantevaporator in thermal contact with a vapor space in said first namedevaporator, a valve for controlling the flow of refrigerant in saidsecond refrigerant evaporator, and means responsive to change'in 20conditions created by the ow of liquid to be cooled entering saidconduit for controlling said valve. f

6. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a container for liquid to becooled, an evaporator in 25 thermal contact with said container, meansfor x circulating refrigerant in said evaporator and an automaticcontrol responsive to change in conditions created by the flow of liquidentering said container in advanceof the rise in temperature of t therefrigerant in said evaporator for controlling the fiow of refrigerantin said evaporator.

7 A refrigerating apparatus comprising a container for liquid to becooled, an evaporator in thermal contact with said container, means for35 withdrawing gaseous refrigerant from said evaporator, liquefying saidrefrigerant and returning liquid refrigerant to said evaporator, and acontrol for said means responsive to change in conditions created by theflow of liquid into said con- 40 tainer in advance of the rise intemperature ofV the refrigerant in said evaporator.

8. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a container for liquid to becooled, an evaporator in thermal contact with said container, means forwithdrawing gaseous refrigerant from said evaporator, liquefying saidrefrigerant and returning liquid refrigerant to said evaporator, and acontrol for said means responsive both to the temperature of liquid intosaid container in ladvance of the rise in temperature of the refrigerantin said evaporator and to thetemperature of the lrefrigerant in saidevaporator.

9. A refrigerating apparatus comprising an object to be cooled, a firstevaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contact with saidobject to be cooled, a second evaporator sealed from refrigerant iiowfrom said first evaporator and in thermal contact with a vapor space insaid first evaporator, a valve for controlling the flow of refrigerantin said second evaporator, and means responsive to the temperature ofsaid object to be cooled for controlling said valve.

10. A refrigerating apparatus comprising an object to be cooled, a firstevaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contact with saidobject to be cooled, a second evaporator sealed from refrigerant ow fromsaid first evaporator and in thermal contact with a vapor space in saidfirst evaporator, a valve for controlling the ow of refrigerant fromsaid second evaporator, and means responsive to the temperature of saidobject to be cooled for controlling said valve.

11. A refrigerating apparatus comprising an object to be cooled, a firstevaporator containing -75 liquid refrigerant in thermal contact withsaid object to be cooled, a second evaporator sealed 'second evaporator,liquefying said evaporated refrigerant and returning it to said secondevaporator, a valve for controlling the flow of refrigerant in saidsecond evaporator, and means responsive to the temperature of saidobject to be cooled for controlling said valve.

12. A refrigerating apparatus comprising an object to be cooled, -afirst evaporator containing liquid refrigerant in thermal contact withsaid object to be cooled, a second evaporator sealed from refrigerantiiow from said rst evaporator and in thermal contact with a vapor spacein said first evaporator, a refrigerant liquefying unit withdrawingevaporated refrigerant from said second evaporator, liquefying saidevaporated refrigerant and returning it to said second evaporator, andmeans responsive to the temperature of said object to be cooled forcontrolling the opera.- tion of said refrigerant liquefying unit.

, JAMES R. ELLEN.

